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Henry T. Sampson, Jr.

Henry Thomas Sampson, Jr. (born in Jackson, Mississippi in 1934) is an American inventor. He is the first African American to earn a Ph.D.in Nuclear Engineering in the United States. Some of his accomplishments include being a member of the United States Navy between the years 1962 and 1964 and earning an Atomic Energy Commission honor between 1964 and 1967. Later he was awarded the Black Image Award from Aerospace Corporation in 1982. He was awarded the Blacks in Engineering, Applied Science Award, and prize for education, by the Los Angeles Council of Black Professional Engineers in 1983. Sampson was employed as a research chemical engineer at the U.S. Naval Weapons Center, China Lake, California, in the area of high energy solid propellants and case bonding materials for solid rocket motors. Sampson also served as the Director of Mission Development and Operations of the Space Test Program at the Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo, California. Sampson is a writer and film historian. He wrote the book Blacks in Black and White: A Source Book on Black Films, which examines often overlooked African American film makers and entertainers from the first half of the 20th Century. In addition he authored The Ghost Walks: A Chronological History of Blacks in Show Business, 1865-1910. Sampson produces documentary films on African American film makers. Sampson is associated with the Board of Directors of Los Angeles Southwest College Foundation, as well as a technical consultant to the Historical Black Colleges and Universities Program.